Beagle to run for commission seat

MIAMI COUNTY — This week, State Senator Bill Beagle (R-Tipp City) announced he will seek the seat for Miami County Commissioners in 2018.

Beagle is the first to announce he will seek the seat, which will be vacated by Commissioner John “Bud” O’Brien. Last August, O’Brien announced his intention to seek the 80th Ohio house seat being vacated by Rep. Steve Huffman when he announced his run for the 5th District of the Ohio Senate.

Beagle’s second term in the Ohio Senate will expire at the end of 2018. On Thursday, Beagle said when O’Brien announced he would be vacating the commissioner’s seat, he knew it was an opportunity to serve his community closer to home.

Beagle said he’ll bring his state-level experience in workforce and economic development to serve Miami County if elected as commissioner.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to use my experience at the state level and apply it here locally. It’ll provide me a new type of challenge and it will allow me to be home more often,” Beagle said. “I wanted to stay engaged somehow … It’s a new challenge, a different type of challenge, and will allow me to draw upon all the work I’ve done over the last several years.”

Beagle currently chairs the Senate Public Utilities Committee and the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood.

Beagle received his bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University and earned an MBA from Cleveland State University. He and his wife, Karen, live in Tipp City where they raised their three children.